Someone Familiar
by TheShiningShadow
Summary: Anabella couldn't stand it anymore, so she left. Left the judging stares, cruel comments, and the painful memories. When she arrives in France, though, the forgotten memories come crashing back in. Now, her new life only leaves questions. Why didn't she remember these things before? What are these headaches? What's her connection with XANA? New York was only the beginning
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! So this is my first FanFiction and I hope you all like it! Really fast before I start the chapter, I want to say thanks to Rosabelle Meave Sterling for encouraging me to publish and my best friend for giving me feedback and being supportive all the way. Love you both! Also I have a challenge for all my readers. I love music and I feel like I can match a song with nearly every one of my chapters. So at the end of the chapter, I'm going to name a song that I feel fits. If you guys agree tell me, if not give me a different song (do you like my evil way of making you review? Mwahaha!). Ok, I think that's it. Read and Review, please!

One

"I. Am. Going. To. Die," Anabella Hopkins muttered to herself as she pounded her head against the train window. "I. Am. Going. To. _Die!" _ she insisted and let out a long groan of boredom. Restless and with nothing to do, Anabella resorted to looking around the compact train cabin. Across from her she saw a woman in her late sixties looking at her with a concerned expression. Anabella gave the woman her most sincere smile she could muster (which was, at best, a little weak.) Then the woman went back to reading her newspaper. Anabella let the smile slip from her face and continued looking out the rattling window.

She looked out across the trees. They clustered together for warmth in the chill autumn air. Meadows spread across miles. Flowers sprung from the ground and waved in the wind. Anabella had never seen so much green before. She stared at the natural land, wondering how it could still be untouched by humans. It was her first day in a foreign country- France to be exact- and she already knew she wouldn't fit in. Compared to her hometown of New York City, this was another planet. A quiet planet. Maybe Pluto. No one ever talked about Pluto anymore. Was Pluto even a planet? Anabella didn't know and, frankly, she did not care. Her science teacher may have mentioned it but she didn't listen. Anabella stopped listening a long time ago.

Anabella looked down at the train route map in her hands. Her stop was next. She couldn't pronounce the name of the town correctly because it was in French. But it didn't matter; Anabella just called it the middle of nowhere. How this town had a fancy school program, she didn't know and, once again, did not care. Anabella only needed a boarding school and it needed to be as far away as possible from New York City.

Anabella had decided to move to France only two days ago so very little planning was involved. No one even knew she left besides her foster mother, and Donna didn't even care about her leaving. That only made things worse. Anabella wanted- needed really- someone there for her no matter what. She needed someone to say to her, "Don't worry. I'm on your side. We'll get through this together," but no one had said that to her for over a year. And no one would ever say it again if they knew her past.

But no one would ever know her past here. She would make sure of that. From now on she would never bring it up, never talk about it, never _think _about it. It was behind Anabella. Besides that's why she came to France in the first place: to get away from it all. She hated the comments behind her back, no one making eye contact with her, no one talking to her. But worst of all were the sympathetic looks. She didn't need _anyone_ feeling sorry for her. She was tough; she could handle it.

Anabella let out a deep sigh. Actually she didn't know if she could handle this problem all alone. Her foster mother wasn't going to help her, that was for sure. And Anabella doesn't have any friends so that was out, too. She had actually thought about calling a lawyer, but her story was so farfetched that even a paid defense attorney would know that it was a lost cause. That was when she decided to run away. No one wanted her to stay. People even thought it would be better if she left. Anabella wouldn't be around their homes, around their children, or around her painful memories. That's what was causing her anger after all. All those memories of last year still fresh in her mind, like it was yesterday…. Anyone who was smart wouldn't bring it up, wouldn't make Anabella mad but Aaron hadn't been smart. He liked poking the bear with a stick and this time Anabella was the bear.

"No!" Anabella scolded herself quietly, "Don't think about it!" Anabella closed her eyes, trying to block out the world, when out of nowhere, her head started throbbing faintly. She didn't think anything of it. Then the pain intensified. It grew and grew, quickly getting worse. It kept escalating until it felt like her brain was going to burst out of her ears. Anabella started rubbing her temples and accidentally let out a whimper of pain.

"Are you alright, dear?" asked the woman across from Anabella in a thick, French accent.

"Yeah…. This happens a lot," Anabella said through clenched teeth. It actually did happen a lot. Almost once every week, but it was never this bad. Just a small headache, nothing Advil couldn't cure. But this wasn't a headache. No, this was her head exploding from the inside.

Anabella was shaking all over now. It took every bit of the strength she had left not to cry out in pain. She had given up on rubbing her temples and was now just holding her head, trying to keep it in one piece. The pain was incessant, like it was never going to stop growing in power. Somehow she had fallen out of her seat and was now on her trembling knees on the floor. She didn't even notice the tears flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks. In the distance, Anabella heard concerned voices; she had caused a crowd. She heard someone yell for a medic.

Then she slipped away from everything around her.

_I'm found in a park. It's dark and cold. I'm under a picnic table curled up into a ball trying to block out the wind. My tiny hands are blue and my feet are numb. I have been here for hours, not knowing how to get home, or if I want to get home. They made it clear they didn't want me. Why should I run back to them? A silent battle is going on in my head: try to get home to them or stay here, alone and cold. But here, under my table, I am safe. Away from their painful beatings. Someone saves me from the decision. I don't know who they are, but they tell me they want to help. They ask me where my home is. "I have no home," I say. They look at me, frail from the cold and from being tired. The person has sad eyes. I take their large hand and am led to their car. _

_ We drive for a long time. I sleep for most of it but wake up when we come to a stop. We're in front of a very old building. It's falling apart, missing bricks and vines are everywhere. Sad and lonely, I think. The person with large hands walks me up to the front door. It has a sign on it saying: St. Joseph's Orphanage. I'm too young to know what "orphanage" means._

Everyone in that train car gathered around the poor girl lying on the floor. Only seconds ago, she had stopped crying and lost consciousness. The medic had finally arrived and she was on her knees taking out her equipment and placing them next to the motionless girl. Everything seemed fine until the medic was checking her wrist for a pulse. Her face showed no emotion but her eyes were frightened. The woman started rummaging through her first aid kit frantically. The crowd behind them grew silent. When she found her stethoscope, she placed it on the girl's heart. She kept moving the metal end around in the same general area of the girl's chest but only continued to grow more and more frightened.

"What's wrong?" someone asked from the back of the crowd. The question hung in the cold silence.

"I can't find a heartbeat…. She's dead…." There was a long pause after the medic's answer. There were sad glances towards the girl's body. Some didn't even look at her. The woman that had shared the same train cabin with the young girl looked horrified and was close to tears. How strange it was that only ten minutes earlier she had said she was going to die…. Several people had started moving back to their train cabins, trying to escape the scene when they heard a shriek come from the front of the crowd. The few that had started to leave ran right back and joined the group again.

What they saw was impossible.

The medic had clearly stated that the girl was dead but there she was sitting straight up on the shaking train floor. A person let out a sigh of relief, another even laughed. There was cheerful chatter as they all smiled at the thought of the girl being alive and well. People were still rejoicing when an ear shattering scream rang out.

"Her eyes! Look at her eyes!" a woman cried. Everyone looked at the girl's now open eyes. Her chocolate brown eyes had been replaced with some kind of symbol; a bull's-eye with four lines extending from the circle, one on top, three on the bottom.

"Is this a prank?" someone yelled.

"She's joking us! She has to be!" another person said, "It must be those contacts you can buy now!"

"This can't be a prank!" the medic exclaimed over all the confused questions and unbelieving comments.

"And why not?" asked a man in the front and center of the crowd.

"Because her heart is still not beating!" the medic responded in a voice that only true terror could create. Everyone froze. No one dared breathe. They were all watching the supposed to be dead girl.

There was an audible inhale when the girl blinked several times, obviously just now becoming aware of her surroundings. She turned her head to the right. People in her view staggered back as if she had a deadly disease. Then she looked to the left. The people there did the same. She faced forwards once again with a glazed look in those disturbing eyes. And then, without any effort at all, the girl stood up in one sweeping movement. Everyone moved back at once; all of them were horrified and confused. None of them knew what was going on. They watched her closely as she slowly turned to face the young medic who was still close by. She took one step towards the woman and tilted her head to one side.

"Are you scared?" asked the young girl in an inhuman voice that almost sounded electronic. She was answered by a small sob of fear that had escaped the medic's throat.

"Don't worry," the girl let her lips curl into an evil smile, "It only hurts for a second."

And she lunged for the woman's throat.

_A Place In This World by Taylor Swift _


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello all! Sorry for the long delay but my life basically consists of school, rehearsals, sleep, and school. Not a lot of free time, but I hope to never have this long of a wait between updating ever again! **

**So, before I start the chapter, I want to give a MAJOR shout out to my bestie who edited this chapter and is now a **_**god **_**in my book! I love ya and thanks sooo much! **

**Also, I do not have a song for this chapter, so instead I want to hear what **_**your favorite**___**song is! **

**Okay, thanks so much for reading this story! I have big plans for it! R&R!**

Two

The soft pattering of rain hitting the roof of the nearly deserted Recreation Room filled the ears of Ulrich Stern, Aelita Stones, and Odd Della Robbia. But out of everything they could do there on their last glorious Sunday night of freedom before school started for another week, Odd had challenged Ulrich to a foosball battle. At first Ulrich found it extremely amusing. Now, after twenty long minutes of the plastic ball slamming against the pegs making Ulrich's teeth rattle, he just wanted to go back to his dorm and relax. Odd didn't even notice. He was working up a sweat spinning the handles, passing the ball from peg to peg, and trying desperately to finally beat Ulrich. He was so close! Just one more point and he would have him. When Ulrich started to yawn, Odd saw his chance. He adjusted the little plastic ball so that it was directly in front of one of his pegs, and he spun the metal handle so hard the ball made a distinct _SMACK _against the wood of Ulrich's goal. Ulrich stared at Odd in disbelief.

"Ten to nine!" Odd hollered in triumph, arms raised over his head like he had just won the World Cup. Odd leaned in a little closer and whispered, "In case you didn't know, I'm the ten."

"That's not fair, Odd!" Ulrich complained, slightly annoyed, "I was yawning! I didn't even know it was possible to take cheap-shots in foosball."

Odd shrugged, "It's not my fault you can't keep your eyes open." A nasty look from Ulrich made him reluctantly sigh, "Fine, fine. Next point wins." And with that Ulrich got the ball effortlessly and lined it up so that it was in the center of one of his golden pegs. He gave Odd a mischievous glance and got the exact response he wanted. Odd's eyes were pleading him not to do it but that didn't stop Ulrich. He spun his metal handle with so much strength, the ball actually split in two when it crashed against the wooden inside of Odd's goal. Odd literally deflated where he stood— shoulders slumped and head hanging—while Ulrich was smiling to himself over his victory.

"You know, Odd, you're almost as good at foosball as you are at studying," Ulrich teased.

"Thank you!" Odd huffed. Odd stared at Ulrich from across the foosball table. Ulrich saw what Odd was doing and took up the challenge. The two boys stared at each other over the long foosball table with straight faces, daring the other to look away first. But Odd couldn't keep a serious face for long. Soon, the blond had his big, goofy grin plastered on his face. Ulrich laughed with his friend.

As Ulrich turned away from the foosball table, he saw Aelita gazing out the window watching the rain. She stared intently at the falling water. Ulrich saw the worry that was painted all over her face. He looked at her confused, and started walking towards her. Noticing Aelita's dejected appearance too, Odd followed, forgetting all about both the foosball game and the staring contest.

"Are you ok?" Ulrich asked as he saw concern flicker in her eyes. Aelita heaved an uneasy sigh before answering the question.

"XANA has been really quiet lately," she said softly without looking at Ulrich.

Odd was confused. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes and no," Aelita replied, "Yes, we are getting a nice break from fighting him but… what if he's been planning something over these past few weeks? What if it's something big?" Her voice broke as she looked up at her two friends.

"Don't worry Princess. We'll always be here to protect you," Odd said putting his arm around Aelita.

"It's not just me I'm worried about," she said tensely, clearly on the brink of frustrated.

"Let loose, Aelita! You need to stop having the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time," Odd said playfully. Aelita immediately shrugged his arm off her shoulders.

"That's kind of hard when I'm the only one that can stop him! It's a big deal; I can't just forget about it!" Aelita snapped. "Ugh! I'm stressed out!" she shouted as she marched over to the couch. Ulrich and Odd watched as she sat down fuming. Odd was still watching her, confused, when Ulrich turned to face him.

"What did I do?" Odd asked him innocently.

"She's sensitive, Odd. She cares about everything. It's not something you can just tell her to stop doing," Ulrich explained.

"But she really does need to relax."

"Of course she does, but you don't go up to a girl and tell her to 'relax'!"

"I've done it to a bunch of girls!"

"Yeah, and look where all those relationships led," Ulrich pointed out to the very single Odd. He turned and started to walk towards Aelita, leaving a pondering Odd.

"Aelita," Ulrich tried to grab her attention but she refused to give it to him. "Aelita," he tried again. She folded her arms and didn't budge. Ulrich sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Aelita, you know how Odd can be."

"Oh, yeah? How can he be?" she barked.

"Things don't always come out the way he wants them to. What he meant by it was that you aren't all alone. We're concerned about it, too, Yumi, Odd, and I. And you know Jeremie is working his butt off just for you." Aelita blushed slightly at the thought of Jeremie working hard for her. "We all care about you, and we will find a way to stop XANA. I promise," Ulrich finished. Aelita looked up and stared at Ulrich with her large green eyes.

"Thanks," she said with a weak voice. She could feel the tears behind her eyes. Before they spilled over, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Ulrich hugged her back and said quietly:

"We are all in this together."

Aelita tightened her grip. This was the best she had felt in two weeks. She had always known it but she was glad that Odd and Ulrich said that they were there for her always. Just the thought of it made her smile even more.

Aelita and Ulrich were still in their embrace when the Recreation Room's door opened and slammed shut. She could hear the sound of running feet coming towards where she and Ulrich sat. The footsteps stopped, and Aelita could see two brown shoes. She looked up and saw Jeremie Belpois standing right in front of them. Her face turned bright red. Hurriedly, she quickly untangled her arms from Ulrich's neck and pushed him off. Ulrich wasn't offended; he knew Aelita didn't want Jeremie to get the wrong idea. But apparently it was too late. Jeremie obviously seemed hurt. Aelita and Jeremie were staring at each other, having a silent conversation that only they could understand. Finally, Odd came to the rescue and broke up the awkward tension.

"So!" he clapped his hands together loudly. Aelita's and Jeremie's heads snapped forward to look at him. "Einstein, why were you in such a rush to see us?" Odd's questioned brought Jeremie out of his own world and back to reality. Alarm filled his eyes and he grabbed for the TV remote. He was flipping through the channels while he explained everything.

"So I was sitting in my room working on my laptop when I heard this on the radio. It's the biggest news in France right now!" Jeremie stopped talking when he found the channel he was looking for.

On the flat screen TV, there was a woman in a crisp black suit standing in front of a train at the station. In between her and the train were about ten people, all of which were receiving urgent medical attention. Several ambulances were parked around the scene, and some were pulling away with their sirens blaring.

"Wait, isn't that the train station here in town?" Ulrich asked a little worried.

"Yes, now hush," Jeremie replied.

"_Hello, this is Janet Jones and right now I am standing here in front of train number one hundred and forty-five, the crime scene where fifteen innocent civilians were brutally attacked. The train was docked at the station when the aftermath of the horrible scene was discovered by the conductor. He has informed us that he became suspicious when he realized no one was exiting one of the train cars, so he went to determine the source of the delay. When he opened the door, he found fifteen unconscious bodies on the floor. The attacker was nowhere in the train car. The local authorities have yet to disclose any details on the whereabouts of the attacker but as of yet, it looks as though he has fled and left no clues behind. Since the discovery of the fifteen unconscious bodies, they have all been taken away from the sight of the attack and are now receiving medical attention from local medics. Upon the awakening of several of the victims, they found they could not recollect the horrible events that took place in the train car. Doctors have diagnosed most of the passengers with severe shock, causing lapses of memory. All fifteen passengers are injured, ranging from simple bruises to severe head trauma. Full recovery is not expected for some—"_

"Turn it off! Please!" Aelita begged cutting off the news reporter. Jeremie quickly switched off the TV surprised by her pleading tone. Aelita turned to Ulrich. Her eyes were red and overflowing with tears. Her lip trembled as she whispered, "Now do you see why I'm so worried?" She quickly stood up and started pacing behind the couch. She was biting her nails.

"So you showed this to us because you think it's a XANA attack?" Ulrich asked Jeremie. Jeremie got up in front of the TV so he could see everyone.

"How could it not be a XANA attack?" Jeremie asked frantically.

"Are you sure you're not just being paranoid, Jeremie?" Odd asked.

"He's after us!" Jeremie spat. Odd and Ulrich looked up at Jeremie in amazement. Even Aelita had stopped pacing to stare at him.

"Dude, I swear I just saw your eye twitch," Odd stated. Jeremie let out a groan of frustration and hung his head.

"Jeremie," Aelita said barely audible. Jeremie raised his head and stared at Aelita. His shoulders visibly relaxed. _How is it that she can just do that to me? _Jeremie wondered. He sighed.

Apologetically, Jeremie whispered, "I'm sorry, you guys. It's just that he hasn't shown his ugly face in a while and I guess I'm just worried that something horrible is going to happen." Aelita walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm worried, too, but we can't just assume that something that clearly isn't a XANA attack is one," Aelita said comfortingly, but it was mainly for her own benefit. She thought there was a strong chance that it was XANA, too. She just didn't want to believe it. Jeremie looked up at her and she mustered up one of her beautiful smiles. He seemed to loosen up a little more but he still wasn't going to give up entirely.

"I know I may be a little paranoid-" Jeremie had started but was cut off by Odd's small snort of laughter. Jeremie glared at Odd with dagger eyes while Ulrich smacked him upside the head.

"Ouch! Is it just beat up on Odd day?" Odd asked distressed. Everyone ignored the question and continued giving Jeremie their full attention.

"I know I may be _a little _paranoid," he said still glaring at Odd, "but what if it wasn't a coincidence? What if it really was XANA?"

"Jeremie, look at the facts," Ulrich said, "Yeah, it is a little suspicious but there haven't been any activated towers in weeks. The superscan would have picked up on anything that was happening on Lyoko. Also, who was on that train that he would want? Odd, Aelita, and I have been in this room ever since lunch was over, Yumi is at home, and you've been typing away all afternoon, working on whatever it is you work on in your room. None of us were on the train. It doesn't sound like a XANA attack to me. It was probably just another wackjob."

"I guess," Jeremie mumbled under his breath. He wasn't completely convinced, but did see Ulrich's reasoning. The evidence was solid enough to doubt that it was XANA.

"Then it's settled. It's not something we are going to lose sleep over," Ulrich said as he stood up. He checked his watch, "It's late. If we're going to beat curfew then we need to hurry and get out of here." They all nodded and Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita started for the door. Once Ulrich and Odd were out of the Recreation Room, Jeremie grabbed Aelita's elbow to make her stay behind. Aelita saw his expression and was immediately worried.

"What's wrong, Jeremie?" she asked.

"There is something you should know about what happened on that train," Jeremie said in a hushed tone.

"What is it?" Aelita whispered back, truly concerned.

"You cut off the reporter before she could say something about one of the passengers—" Jeremie stared at Aelita, wondering if it _was _a good idea to tell her. It would just worry her more. _She has to know, _Jeremie told himself. He took a deep breath and then blurted, "One of the people on the train was killed." Aelita gasped and her eyes widened. Her whole body began to tremble as the news settled in. She was terrified. Aelita could barely find her voice. It quivered and trailed off as she said:

"So that means…" She already knew the answer.

"It means if this really was a XANA attack," Jeremie's voice was hoarse, his face grim, "he's not afraid to kill anymore."


End file.
